


Brilliance/Madness

by Sashataakheru



Category: The Chaser RPS
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Powers, Community: wtf27, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-16
Updated: 2010-01-16
Packaged: 2017-10-06 08:26:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sashataakheru/pseuds/Sashataakheru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andrew's POV. Set at a special high school for those gifted with supernatural powers, Andrew walks a line between brilliance and madness as he tries to work out where he belongs. The boys are about 15, in year 10.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brilliance/Madness

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'supernatural powers' for the wtf27 comm on LJ.
> 
> **Their Super Powers:**  
> Andrew: channelling his imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia, slight touch of premonition/precognition  
> Charles: empathy and coercion  
> Julian: flight  
> Craig: chameleonics* and invisibility  
> Chas: metamorphosis (i.e. shape-shifting) and super-speed  
> Dom: super-strength and invisibility  
> Chris: mind-reading
> 
> * Not just blending into one's surroundings, the ability to change one's physical appearance as well as a form of disguise. Not shape-shifting though. Only limited to human bodies. Shape-shifting covers everything possible.

I have the power to channel my imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia. I’m not sure how much use it is as powers go, really. There are far more useful abilities to possess, such as invisibility, flying, coercion, mind-reading, super-strength, metamorphosis, those sorts of things, but no. I missed out on that. All I got was some fucked up mind that refuses to trust anyone. It tends to make you into a bit of a loner. I’ve not yet learnt to completely control it yet, so it’s hard to make friends when you can’t stop thinking they’re going to betray you.

That’s why I find it so strange that I do have a friend. It took Charles a long time to get me to trust him, but he’s the only person I do trust. And yes, I’m aware of the rumours regarding our relationship. It’s nobody’s business if we’re just friends or more than that. We keep it to ourselves. We know when we can be together properly. Away from that, we’re friends, although one time Charles did sneak me away to kiss me before he went to class. We were behind the change rooms, out of sight. It was magical, that kiss. I couldn’t concentrate the rest of the day. That’s what I get for being friends with someone with such strong empathy and coercion powers. Kissing him is like nothing else in the world. No wonder I want him all to myself. I’m hooked on him. I’m not sure who’s manipulating who anymore.

We’re sitting together eating lunch. Charles is talking to me about some sort of physics he just learnt about. I happen to see Julian and his friends watching us. I’m not that worried though. You see, the problem with Julian is that he thinks he can threaten me. At least my powers are useless against him. He’s never been able to trigger them. No one can work out why. Kind of ruins the fun of bullying someone when they aren’t scared of you. Mind you, he can only fly, so what does he know? Craig’s there whispering to Chas, but I can’t help notice the shocking bleached hair he’s sporting. Must’ve been in a rush this morning. His hair’s usually better than that, and not so horrendously blonde. I can’t see Dom there, but he might be hiding. I’ve heard he likes being invisible.

“Andrew, are you listening to me? I’ve been trying to tell you about-”

I cut him off. “Don’t look around. Julian’s watching us,” I whisper.

“What, again? I didn’t think we were worthy of that kind of obsession, did you?” Charles whispers back.

“Me neither. Shit. He’s coming over.”

I cringe at the familiar slap across the head Julian always gives me when he comes over to talk to me.

“What are you doing here? You’re not allowed here,” Julian says. Weak argument, Julian. Just hurry up and get to the real reason you’re bugging us.

“Yes we are. This isn’t your turf, you know,” I say.

“This is our area. Fuck off, Hansen. Take your little fuckbuddy with you. Go on, get out of here!” Julian says, grabbing the backs of our collars in some attempt to lift us to our feet and move us on.

Just as Julian’s about to speak again, he lets go of us. We turn to see what’s caught his attention. Chris has just walked up, not that he has any interest in seeing any of us. It’s enough of a distraction though, because, sadly for Chris, Julian hates him more than he hates us.

“Chris! Get him, boys!”

There’s an audible “Oh shit” from Chris as he sees them. And suddenly, we’re alone as we watch Julian, Craig and Chas chase after Chris, who turns and runs as soon as he sees them. Neither of us can help laughing. They’ll probably beat him up again when they get hold of him, and they will get hold of him – Chas is too fast for Chris, but it’s no concern of ours. I’m not aware of the way Charles’ arm is resting across my shoulder possessively, but then I don’t really notice it anymore. He brings me into a hug and I don’t care who sees us.

Sometimes, I think Charles is the only reason I’m able to control my abilities, if you can call them that. He can get inside my head and my heart and soothe my anxieties away. I think that’s why I’m so attached to him. He helps me cope. Without him, I’d be a fucking mess, I’m sure of it.

I’m still not sure why I was given these abilities. They serve no real purpose. One of my teachers thinks it’s some sort of mutation, that it’s working overtime in me and that’s not healthy. I wonder why I was even sent to this school. I don’t have any sort of useful talent. I’m happiest in music class. I don’t care about sport or training or any of the other things they teach here. I have a completely useless talent for going psycho paranoid. My year has a bet on as to when I’m going to turn bad, because apparently, overactive paranoia is the key sign of an evil genius. But it’s not like I asked for this. I wish I could stop it, but I can’t. I’m constantly living with this overwhelming sense of paranoia and suspicion. I’ve learnt to do everything myself. I just can’t trust anyone enough to do anything for me. Sometimes I think I’m mad, not some sort of super hero, and that I belong in some psych ward and not in some school for those gifted with supernatural abilities. Maybe when I’m out of this place I’ll have them work out whether I’m mad or gifted.

I also think too much. Have you noticed? Drives my mum crazy, it does. Hell, I think I’m crazy. Dad tries to help but he just doesn’t get it. I feel most at peace when they’re not around, actually. I need them in the house to feel safe, but I shut myself in my room and create music. It’s the only other thing that calms my mind, apart from Charles.

It’s funny, I should be top of my music class, I’m better than all of them, but because I lack any sort of empathic ability that I can channel into my music, I’m stuck at the bottom. Our teacher once described a piece of mine as cold and lifeless. Just because she’s so used to feeling the amplified emotions of the other pieces doesn’t mean mine don’t have emotion in them too. She doesn’t want to feel it. She’s not in tune with what emotion actually feels like when it’s not amplified by empathy. I’m the only one in our class who lacks that empathy. Music’s one of the few things I’m good at, and yet, if I was at any other school, I’d be on top. Here, I’m nothing special.

Although, in some freakish turn of fate, I have discovered lately that I appear to have some latent talent for predicting things. One of the divination teachers has taken a shine to me since this revelation and has insisted on teaching me to read tarot cards, runes, crystals and all sorts of preposterous things. I find them unnecessary though. They only add to the mental clutter in my mind, not clear it. I’m trying to convince her that all I need her to do is teach me lucid dreaming and meditation, but she’s not budged so far. This is why I have to lug this huge ancient tome around about druids, runes and trees three days a week so she can teach me things I don’t actually want to learn. I humour her though because it gets me extra credit, since I’m doing it outside my schedules classes.

Charles comes over after school. For once, the house is empty. No siblings, no parents, no nothing. Just us. I’ve been waiting for this all week in spite of how anxious I am. I’ve never spent more than a few hours in the house alone by myself before. I’m prone to panicking. I convinced myself and mum that I’d be alright with Charles around, but now I’m not so sure. That was the one reason I could think of to convince them to let me have him over for a few days while they were away. It was a cover story so we could be together without fear of interruption. Sure, we’ve messed around at night after everyone’s gone to bed, but this is the first time we’ll have the house to ourselves. My parents are at some conference, and my siblings have taken the opportunity to disappear as well. Heaven forbid we should spend any time together. At least I know I’ll get away with this.

We drop our bags in the hall and I grab his tie, dragging him towards the kitchen. I only trust myself to do this with him. There’s a punnet of strawberries in the fridge that I fish out. Kinda corny, I know, but I know the moment he sees them that he approves. I think he’s surprised at this. I’m not exactly known for such displays of cheesy romanticism and affection, but the idea wouldn’t go away so strawberries it is.

I tease him with the first one until I let him bite it, and he grabs my hips firmly as if he doesn’t want me to escape. I kiss the juice off his lips and melt into his embrace. I can feel it in his arms, the way his muscles are. He’s taking control, and I’m more than willing to let him. He feeds me a strawberry, and it’s cool, sweet and sharp. He presses me against the fridge and kisses me, hands gripping my arms tightly.

I’m struck with a sudden surge of panic that seems to come from nowhere. Is it fear of getting caught? Fear of what I want to do with him? Fear of being alone in the house? I freeze, unable to think.

“Andrew? You alright?” I hear Charles’ voice, but it seems so far away.

“No, get away from me. Please, leave me alone.”

I shove him away and run off to my room, needing to be alone. I sit in the middle of my darkened room on the floor, hugging my knees to my chest, unable to fathom what it is that spooked me. It could be another random attack. I get them from time to time, where my brain just freezes and all I want to do is run away, convinced the world is out to get me. It’s when the paranoia is at its peak, and it takes several hours to get over it. It takes a lot of effort to silence the screaming in my head.

I’m too fucking scared to tell Charles to go away when I hear him enter my room. I inhale sharply as his arms close around me and I hear his voice whispering in my ear.

“You’re safe, Andrew. No one’s out to get you. It’s me, Charles. Calm down, mate. It’ll be alright,” he says to me.

“It’s never alright. They’re always lurking, hiding, whispering, sneaking in shadows. I have to hide from them or they’ll take me away,” I say, not sure who I’m talking to or what I’m talking about.

“Don’t you think like that. You’re brilliant. Even though your abilities aren’t enviable, and aren’t seen as that useful, you’re smarter than them tenfold. You should stand up and show them what you can do, not hide away in the darkness.”

I know what he says makes sense, but I’m in no fit state to believe it. I struggle against him, but he doesn’t let go. Soon, he’s got me pinned to the floor, stroking my face gently with one hand as his arms wrap around me like iron bars. I’m crying now out of frustration and fear, every inch of my body is demanding I escape, but I can’t move, can’t find the strength to break free. Charles is too strong.

In one last bid for freedom, I scream at him, unaware I’m not speaking out loud but speaking to his mind instead. I feel him fall back away from me. I take the opportunity to scramble free, lunging for the first available weapon-like thing I can find, I think it’s my cricket bat. I don’t want to hurt him, but I’m too scared right now to care. I get to my feet, and that’s when I see him curled up on the floor. He’s clutching his head. He looks like he’s in pain, but he might be faking it to gain my trust. I approach him cautiously, my mind brimming with suspicion.

“Charles? Are you alright?” I say.

“Goddamn it, Andrew! I didn’t know you could do that! Fuck, that hurt! What the fuck are you playing at?” Charles says.

“Do what? What did I do?” I’m not sure what he’s talking about. I don’t remember hurting him as I escaped, but I might’ve done as I struggled against him.

“Don’t ever scream into my head again! Fuck you, now I’ve got a blinding headache,” Charles says.

“I did that? I didn’t mean to, I just wanted to be free. I thought I was just screaming normally. I actually sent that into your head? I didn’t know I could do that. I’m sorry, Charles. Are you going to be alright?” I say, concerned but still not out of my paranoid mind.

“I will be once you get me some fucking Panadol. And will you please put that bat down? I’m not going to hurt you, alright?” Charles says, slowly getting to his feet, a hand still gripping his head.

I drop the bat and follow Charles back to the kitchen, never taking my eyes off him. I fish him out some Panadol and get him a glass of water and quickly retreat to the other end of the bench, watching him intently.

“Andrew, come here,” Charles says.

“No, you’re going to hurt me again, I just know it. Stay away from me!” I say, frantically looking for another weapon and finding nothing of help in front of me.

“Andrew, shut up. No one’s going to hurt you,” Charles says, taking a step forward.

“Stay back! Where are they? What have you done with them? You killed them, didn’t you? What have you done to me? You’re going to kill me next, aren’t you? That’s what you are, some psycho killer come to kill my family. Go on, admit it! You want to kill me, don’t you?” I say, the sheer emptiness of our house looming over me and threatening to crash down onto me.

“Your parents are at a conference somewhere, and your siblings are staying with friends. They’ll be back in a few days, I promise. They’re not dead, and I didn’t kill them. I don’t want to kill you either. Now, come on. Calm down. It’ll be alright,” Charles says, taking another step forward.

“No, please, stay back! Don’t touch me! God, he’s going to kill me in my own home. Why aren’t my parents here? Where are they? What have you done to them? Why is everything so cold?” I back away until I’m pressed against the cupboards. I’ve got nowhere to go, and Charles keeps slowly walking towards me.

“I’ll make you warm, Andrew. Just calm down. It’ll be alright. Want me to call your parents?”

I can feel his empathy. It’s slowly beginning to touch my heart and mind again, like it always does. I want to fight it, but it lessens my panic as he gets closer. By the time he’s in front of me, I collapse into his arms, crying, my mind mostly settled. I’m still anxious and scared, but not to the point that I was before. My whole body’s trembling and he holds me tight.

“I’m sorry I freaked out, Charles. It’s just-”

“Shh. Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to leave you. Still want me to call your parents? You going to be alright now?”

“I-I’ll be fine, I think, for the moment. I think I need to sit down.”

“Alright. I’ll sit you down by the fire and make you all nice and warm.”

I give him a weak smile as he ushers me over to one of the sofas. He wraps a blanket around me and gets me settled before he starts the fire going. I watch him, curling up into myself, wanting to be warm, wanting to stop shaking. I watch the flames dancing around.

“I’ll go make us something to eat. You hungry?” Charles says, kneeling beside the chair.

“Yeah, just a bit. Mum left us some dinners in the fridge so we wouldn’t starve.”

“Clearly, she accurately assessed the range of our cooking skills. What a great mum you have. I’m still surprised she’s letting us do this. I’d have thought she’d be terrified of leaving you alone with just me for company and no adult supervision.”

“She was scared, yeah, but somehow, I convinced her it would be a good idea. At least I’ll be able to study in peace while they’re all away. It’s not often I get a quiet house to myself.”

“Well, if you’re sure. Want some coffee or something too? Help warm you up?”

“Hmm, coffee sounds good. I’m not supposed to have too much of it, though. Mum’s afraid it’ll interfere with my abilities.”

“Well, she’s not here, is she? You stay here and warm up. I’ll be right back.”

He leans in and kisses me before he goes, nice and slow. He’s too good to me. I almost don’t want to let him go, but I content myself with getting warm.

He returns with coffee and what looks like some sort of stew mum had cooked for us. He settles down beside me as we eat. When we’re both finished, we just cuddle together. He kisses me again. I’m so grateful he’s here. I’d have really gone mad if I’d been left alone here. His arms are warm and strong. I always feel safe when he’s holding me. He kisses my neck softly as I curl up beside him.

“Feel up to doing anything tonight? Or should we just watch movies til 3am?” Charles says.

“Can we do both?” I say, not sure he’ll agree.

“Eager little thing, aren’t we? You sure you’re alright now?”

“Yeah, feeling better now. Thanks for being here.”

“Think I’d let you stay here on your own? Not on your life. Besides, a house to ourselves for three days? I’m not missing that for anything.”

“I know, Help me stay sane, will you? I’ve never been alone this long so I’m not sure how well I’ll cope. I might ring mum later though. Maybe hearing her voice will calm me down a bit. Sorry for what I said earlier. I didn’t mean it, you know. I was just-”

“Freaked out? I know. Don’t worry about it. You just settle down and let me look after you. I know you’ve been waiting for this for ages.”

I shiver as I feel his hand gently slide between my legs. I can’t deny his words. I have wanted this for a long time, for us to be alone together to… be together without fear of interruption. Maybe we’ll even have sex. We’ve never done anything more than kiss and make out. I let him kiss me as he pulls me onto his lap. I can tell by the way his hands are holding me that this will be a night to remember.


End file.
